Palo Alto Tender Tracks Day 60, May 22, 2012

New Moon
Thornwood Open Space Preserve

Jasper was home sick today and Kashi’s Mom came with us.  It was another wild four year old day yet more calm then in past days though  Kashi’s Mom was not privy to such knowledge!  Truly, they were filled with lot’s of excitement yet right there with stories, songs, and WATERMELON that Gracy’s Mom brought from her Dad’s birthday this weekend. YUM! it was so good..
I wanted to get us on our way soon as it is a bit of a walk so, off we went and I passed out the stuffiies today because otherwise, it would have taken a glorious amount of extra time.  Then off we went.

When we got there almost all knew what direction to go and off we went to find all of our landmarks.  But, at least to my many years of coming here, two of our landmarks are getting very old indeed.  The Smiley Face welcoming log and Laying Down Grandma tree are being taken back into Mother Earths arm in such a graceful and elegant way. They are getting smaller and smaller, wood rotting and crumbling back into the Earth.  A beautiful testiment to the power of bugs, and plants, wind, rain and the force behind all things.  Down the trail they found the Snakey tree, Soap root Heaven, Rabbit Run, the Bridge and then, the Cross Roads.
We walked silently down the path to our resting spot in order to give thanks to the Gnomes and Faeries, Guardians of this place and took out lunch because: THEY WERE STARVING!!!! At least Bodie was straving three times over!    After lunch there was a group that did a grand exploration to find the waterfall from last time with Audrey.  Soon after Kashi and his Mom went exploring for them as well and Grace and I were left together.  What a treat for me as she and I decided to hide when we heard Kashi coming back.   She found a nook inside a Redwood stump but Kashi found her.  However, she asked me to cover her up and with sticks and debri I did. Kashi wanted to join in so he found a hollowed out log and hid in there.Then, all the other children came back but “Where is Grace and Kashi?  We just can’t find them. Can you find any clues and look about to find them?”  So off they went searching and searching until  “Found them!!!!”  Throughout the day there were more hidings going on and at one point a whole bunch of them were all piled on Audrey in the bushes hiding while Grace, Bodie and Giulio were coming down a very big hill. Grace got a bit stuck but Bodie and Giulio gave fine assistance to her needs.  Earlier Kashi’s Mom was up there with them doing her best to navigate up this steep hill all the while tending to and using her great camera equipment.  She and the equipment, in the end, made it down safe and sound along with the rest of them.

There was much that went on with out me today as I had the pleasure of being with individuals, a heavenly time for me I wish to say. Being able to spend alone time with your children is always a delight in the midst of the regular day to today togetherness and overseeing of it all.  So with that, what I can say is that Paul was a great Guardian of safety today as he helped Bodie when he got sliced by a Hedge plant: Sedges have edges and grasses have ridges.  A little saying to remember when in the presence of these great plants.  Paul also helped Kashi when he used the Plantain plant to help his cut and Paul gave him a bandaid.

Each one of the children went exploring, playing and having a fine time of it with either Kashi’s mom or Audrey.  Kashi took his Mom on many adventures and it seemed she most delightedly had a fine Tender Tracks day.

They were a bit wild coming and going in the bus yet able to find their centers when asked to and mostly, they were just filled with exuberant four and five year old brilliance!